


the rest of the world was black and white (but we were in screaming color)

by savanting



Series: The Swift Tides of Auradon and the Isle (TSwift x Descendants) [11]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/M, Lost Love, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Past Relationship(s), Post-Canon, Post-Descendants 3, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:53:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27101506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savanting/pseuds/savanting
Summary: Jay needs a date, and an old flame seems like the best bet. One-Shot.
Relationships: Jay & Carlos De Vil, Jay/Li Lonnie
Series: The Swift Tides of Auradon and the Isle (TSwift x Descendants) [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1910446
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16





	the rest of the world was black and white (but we were in screaming color)

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any Disney properties. I think Jay and Lonnie's relationship in canon is the least explored, and I just wanted to see what I could do with what I imagine their dynamic is. Oddly enough, I think they might be one of those couples that, though they never stay together or settle down, keep coming back to each other like magnets over the course of their lives. I know that's a bit "deep" for Disney characters, but that's how I felt about them as I wrote them for this fic.
> 
> The title comes from lyrics in the song "Out of the Woods" by Taylor Swift ( _1989_ album, released 2014).

Jay didn’t mean to be a heartbreaker. Really. Somehow it just . . . happened.

And that kind of reputation had consequences.

The whispers he had garnered in his time back at Auradon Prep meant that, by the time he received his invitation for Mal and Ben’s wedding, he had no idea what to do about a date.

Carlos thought the predicament was _hilarious_.

“Man, I told you your wicked ways would come back to bite you!” his long-time Isle comrade said as they sat in the apartment they had shared since high school graduation. “That’s what you get for chasing skirts without a thought to the girls wearing them!”

But Jay still had the emotional impulses of a toddler at times, so his first reaction was to shove Carlos in the shoulder. “At least I don’t have my life planned out for the next thirty years because my girlfriend’s a control freak.”

That was the wrong move. Insulting Jane in _any way_ was Carlos’s own personal berserk button.

Carlos reacted by shoving Jay back, his eyes pulled into a glare. “Hey, at least _my_ girlfriend actually exists in more than just a fantasy in my head,” he said. “That’s more than you can say for the last few months, huh, Jay?”

The two friends stared at each other, color rising in their faces, breath huffing out even though their tussle had only just begun.

Jay said nothing before, finally, his conscience cracked and got the better of him. “I didn’t mean that about Jane,” he said softly. “It wasn’t right.”

Carlos looked down at the beige carpet they both hated. “Yeah, well, I shouldn’t have poked at a sore spot with you. Sorry.”

The son of Jafar just offered a grim smile. “What do they say about karma? It always comes back around?”

Carlos seemed to hesitate before saying, “Well – yeah, but . . . you’re not a _bad_ guy, Jay. At least, not anymore. You’re better than you used to be.” When Jay seemed to be on the verge of another shoving match, Carlos raised his hands up. “Hey, you wanted honesty.”

Jay blew out a huffy sigh. “It’ll be hella embarrassing to show up at that wedding alone,” he said.

“You’ve got time,” Carlos tried to assure him – and then he grimaced. “We’re in the wedding party, though, so you better hurry up or your date won’t have a matching dress.”

 _That_ got a snort out of Jay. “Out of all the things I have to worry about, you think _that’s_ even on my list?”

Carlos mumbled something under his breath that sounded like “legitimate concern,” but Jay lit up after a moment of consideration.

“I have an idea,” he said, like he had just come up with a brilliant scheme, like a heist full of smoke and mirrors.

“Uh-oh,” Carlos said, being all too familiar with that gleam in his best friend’s eyes. “Is the lady killer back on the prowl?”

Jay could barely smother a smile. “Something like that.”

*

The downtown district of Auradon City was busy on Saturday nights, particularly in the club and bar scene (which, honestly, was smaller than even the same area had been on the Isle of the Lost – but, hey, these were the “good” kids). Jay stood apart from one line snaking out of the Hatter Club, which had become a stomping ground of sorts for him and other villain kids who wanted a bit of home without all the strings attached.

Jay looked up to see Lonnie Li getting out of a cab and smiling brightly when she spotted him. As she dashed over to him – in heels, even, he was impressed – she tucked a windblown strand of hair behind her ear. “You’ve been a stranger,” she said. “Should I just get past the niceties by punching you in the stomach?”

Jay looped his arm through hers. It felt like old times, when they had won a tourney game and they had hooked their arms as they whooped in victory. That seemed like such a long time ago, almost another life. “Now where would the fun in _that_ be?”

After they had stood in line and gotten through the door to the club, a fury of sound greeted them and enveloped them in its chaos. Over the noise, Lonnie leaned in and said, “Want to get a drink?”

Jay nodded and followed Lonnie through the crowd of people. Iridescent liquids bubbled behind the counter in large vials and tubes: the Hatter Club didn’t sell alcohol, but the Wonderland specialties offered on the menu instead could have just as devastating effects on its clientele. Lonnie chose a neon orange drink, the smell of which made Jay envision beaches and sunsets, while he settled on a milky blue drink that was called a Moon River. One sip, however, and he saw stars behind his eyelids.

They settled against the counter, divorced enough from the music and the crowd that they could hear each other slightly rather than just having to read lips, their drinks held loosely in their hands. “So,” Lonnie said, “are you ever going to tell me why you wanted to meet tonight?”

Jay hesitated. High school felt like so long ago when he looked at Lonnie now – make-up perfect, eyes shadowed in liner and mascara, her lips shaded in just the right tone of red. It was hard to pair this woman up with the girl he had practiced tourney with, the one who had kept stride with him during laps and fencing and all manner of sport. In truth, she had often been just “one of the guys” to him for so long that, by the time he had realized how he felt about her, the whole thing had imploded between them.

It was a wonder she had even answered his call in the first place.

“I wanted to see you,” he said – and it wasn’t just a line because, as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he realized he meant them. No matter how many Auradon girls had chased him, Lonnie had been the one to walk beside him, and that had meant something – even if he realized it only now. Now that it was probably too late to do anything about it.

Lonnie didn’t smile, however, like another girl might have. A crease formed between her eyebrows. “Does this have anything to do with the invitations for Mal’s wedding going out?”

Jay wasn’t quite ready for that serve. “Uh, well—”

Lonnie lifted up a hand. “Spare me the flowery words, Jay, because we both know you won’t mean them.” Her eyes were as hard as flint as she looked at him. “Lucky for you, I don’t have a date yet either. We could just call it a favor between old friends.”

 _Old friends._ There was little promise, if anything, in those words. Jay felt the urge to grimace but instead took the opportunity to sip his Moon River drink – which tasted none the bit magical or ethereal like its name would have suggested. It tasted like a watered-down blueberry smoothie. He probably could have done with a shot of something much stronger right then.

“Fair,” he said eventually. “But, really, Lonnie, I did miss you—”

“Stop.” Lonnie’s eyes darted from his and back, like she couldn’t decide where to settle her gaze. “We’ve talked about this, Jay. We burned out so badly in high school when we dated. We even said we _hated_ each other at one point.”

Jay remembered that day. It had been their last tourney match, and the team morale had gone down ever since their dating escapades had intermingled with their team dynamics. Every training session that he could remember had ended in an argument of some kind. But did he only remember the bad simply because of how painful those moments had been while he had lived them? Hadn’t there been sweet moments as well somewhere in the mix? Or had there been only stray glimmers in the dust of their battles?

But that was the hard part: Jay was fire, and so was Lonnie. And two fires together would only ever create an inferno. The flames had eaten them up with nothing to salvage.

Of course, that had been _then_. What about _now_?

Jay reached out his hand to touch Lonnie’s cheek before tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. It was a simple gesture, easily platonic, but he saw how she sucked in a breath, as if she were afraid she would break to pieces under his touch. And he smiled at her, and that too was as easy as if there had never been any kind of bitterness between them in the first place.

“You’re still the only girl who can beat the crap out of me,” he said, “and that’s saying something.”

“Why?” Lonnie looked intrigued in spite of herself. “Just because you let me win?”

“I never let you win,” he said, grinning at her. “That goes against my whole coda of fighting in the first place.”

“Maybe that was the problem,” Lonnie said. “We were just trying to prove something to each other rather than just being ourselves.”

“I was myself with you – all the time,” he said. And with those words – they fell from his lips like a confession – there fell an awkward silence. He could imagine seeing softening in Lonnie’s eyes, but even then he didn’t know if that was truth or just a hope of his.

A moment later, however, Lonnie downed the rest of her orange drink. Then she slammed the empty glass down on the counter. “Okay, enough reminiscing,” she said. “Do you want me to be your date to the wedding or not?”

Jay couldn’t help the grin that split across his face. “I’d love that.”

Lonnie’s mouth twitched. “Great, then we’re agreed. Now – how about we actually liven things up by dancing or something? I feel old just standing here in a corner like this.”

“Sounds fine to me,” he said, offering her his arm – and she actually took it.

Jay had to smile to himself.

It wasn’t exactly a lost cause. Her own smile and looks had told him enough.

He would win Lonnie Li over yet.


End file.
